DUNLAP'S "AN OUTLINE OF PSYCHOBIOLOGY"* 



C. JUDSON HERRICK 



At the present time there is an active demand for a brief 

 untechnical introduction to the structure and functions of the 

 nervous system adapted for the use of students of psychology 

 and education who have no biological training. It is the purpose 

 of this little book on Psychobiology to fill this need. Every 

 experienced teacher will recognize that the difficulties in the 

 way of such an enterprise are almost insuperable, and any 

 intelligently directed effort in this field should, accordingly, be 

 judged leniently. 



There are nine chapters in Dr. Dunlap's work, of which one 

 is devoted to the cell, one to a survey of the tissues of the adult 

 human body, one to muscular tissue, one to glandular tissue, 

 and the remainder to the nervous system. 



The discussion of the cell and tissues is in general correctly 

 stated, but is rather schematic and lacking in functional coloring. 

 The critical student will note a number of minor errors, not 

 all of which can be explained as due to the condensed form 

 necessary in a work of this sort. A few examples are given. 



On page 11 we read, "Every plant and every animal com- 

 mences its individual life as a single cell." Exception should, of 

 course, be made of the very large numbers of species which 

 may be propagated by fission and budding. On page 26: "Vas- 

 cular tissue; This includes the blood and lymph, the lymph 

 glands and the red marrow of the bones, and develops from the 

 endoderm." The endodermal origin of the blood cells is con- 

 troverted, but there is no controversy regarding the mesodermal 

 origin of some of the other tissues here mentioned. On page 

 29 the nuclei of pale striated muscle fibers are said to be mar- 

 ginal, while those of dark striated muscle fibers are located more 

 centrally, embedded among the fibrils. The converse is true, 

 as illustrated by the figure of human muscle printed on the 



1 Knight Dunlap. An Outline of Psychobiology. Baltimore, The Johns Hop- 

 kins Press, 1914, 121 pages, price $1.25. 



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